Mr. Barnes studied her eyes, which she tried to show him were sincere and warm. After a minute, he seemed to relax, and he gave her a nod.
“Very well,” he said. “Shall we finish our dance?”
Martha nodded, and they started dancing again once more. The rest of the dance couldn’t have taken more than five minutes from that point, but it felt like a whole hour more. When the dance did finally end, however, Martha’s knees went weak with relief. She allowed Mr. Barnes to lead her off the dance floor, over to where her mother was standing.
“Thank you for such a lovely dance,” Mr. Barnes said, giving her the smallest wink.
Martha blushed, curtseying.
“The pleasure was all mine, I’m sure,” she said. “And again, I’m truly sorry for my misstep.”
The gentleman shook his head, giving her a grin.
“Think nothing of it,” he said. “Have a good evening, Miss Elwood.”
With that, he turned and walked away. Martha exhaled heavily as soon as he was out of sight, her head spinning and her legs still trembling.
“What was that about…” her mother began, stopping when she got a good look at her daughter’s face. “Oh, Martha, darling, what’s happened? Why have you turned a shade paler?”
Martha shook her head, turning glazed eyes on her mother. She didn’t know what to say, or how to say it. But she cursed herself the second she finally did speak.
“Did you know about Lady Cordelia?” she asked.
Her mother gave her a sympathetic look.
“We did, darling,” she said. “But she was married, and far away from London. We had no way of knowing that her husband would die, and that she would return here.”
Martha nodded slowly. She wanted to be angry with her parents for not telling her something so important. But her mother was right. They had no way of knowing that the former lover of her fiancé would ever return. And with that being the case, it was Lord Billington’s place to divulge his past to her, if he so chose. So, why hadn’t he?
Chapter Twenty-eight
Albert walked stiffly across the ballroom floor, escorting his mother back to the refreshment tables after their dance. He tried to not let on that anything was wrong, because he wanted nothing but to flee. Seeing Cordelia had brought back floods of memories, pain and insecurities that he was finally learning to bury. He did his best to pretend as though nothing was wrong as he kissed his mother’s cheek and then turned away from her.
What is she doing back here?He wondered, keeping his head down and trying to remain as invisible amongst the rest of the crowd as possible. He tried to tell himself that he was being ridiculous, that Cordelia wouldn’t want anything to do with him, even if she did see him. But that wasn’t his only concern. He couldn’t even look at Cordelia without feeling sick with hurt and anger. He knew he needed to leave the ballroom, and he needed to do it quickly.
He was just preparing to slip to the edge of the ballroom and find an escape when a figure intercepted him. He looked up, hoping desperately that it was his mother, or Miss Elwood. But all his senses left him when he looked up, into the eyes of Cordelia herself.
“Hello, Albert,” she said, giving him a warm smile. “My, it’s lovely to see you again.”
Albert stared at her dumbly, unable to think of a single thing to say. He had truly believed that he could slip away without her even noticing or caring. Why was she cornering him in such a manner?
Albert tried to speak, but neither his voice nor his lips would cooperate. He just continued to stare, trying to will himself to look away, but just as incapable of doing that as he was of talking.
When he remained silent, Cordelia’s smile wilted.
“Come now, Albert,” she said, slowly frowning. “After everything we shared, I’d expect a better reception from you than this.”
Albert’s mouth opened, but it only hung in that position uselessly. Part of his mind was in complete chaos. But another part of his mind was dumbfounded. How could Cordelia really expect a better reception, as she called it, after what she’d done to him? And why would she dare be seen speaking to him now, when she had refused to ever be seen with him again, last time they spoke?
His scars hadn’t gone away, nor had his negative reputation within the ton. He wished desperately that he could tell her those things. He wanted to tell her to get out of his way and never speak to him again. He wanted to say anything at all, rather than standing there, feeling dumber by the second. But his brain refused to produce any words at all.
Frustrated and frantic, Albert glanced around the ballroom. He didn’t know what he was looking for. Perhaps, he thought he could find his salvation somewhere within the crowd of guests. Instead, however, he saw Miss Elwood. And she was staring right at him and Cordelia. Suddenly, the ballroom began to spin. Albert realized that he was feeling weak and faint, and he had to focus hard to keep himself steady. He felt too overwhelmed, and he feared that he would collapse, or start yelling, and make a scene.
He looked around once more, noticing that people standing near him and Cordelia were starting to turn to look at them. He had no doubt that he was as white as a sheet, and if his knees were any indication, he was trembling. He didn’t waste another second. He darted away from Cordelia while she was busy watching his pallid face. More people turned to watch as he stormed away from his former lover, but he blatantly ignored them.
He was so intent on fleeing Cordelia that he didn’t see his father until he bumped right into him. He jumped back, briefly fearing that Cordelia had somehow materialized before him. When he saw his father’s face, however, he just shook his head.
“Excuse me,” he muttered, moving to step around his father.
